In a 12-hour span this week, President Trump promised that the war with Iran was ending soon. He picked a fight with the pope on social media. He threatened to fire the chair of the Federal Reserve. He posted an illustration of himself receiving an encouraging hug from Jesus Christ.

本周，在短短12小时内，特朗普总统承诺与伊朗的战争即将结束。他在社交媒体上对教宗发起挑衅。他威胁要解雇美联储主席。他还发布了一张画，展示耶稣基督正拥抱他以示鼓励。

This is what it looks like when Mr. Trump is under pressure and burrowing his way into a more flattering news cycle. And anyone who has been paying even a little bit of attention over the past decade can pinpoint where we are in a well-established routine, when, intentionally or not, the president tosses out little rhetorical grenades meant to shift attention elsewhere. (It often works: Remember last week, when he threatened to wipe out Iranian civilization?)

这就是特朗普在承受压力时，试图钻进一个更讨喜的新闻周期时的样子。过去十年，只要稍加留意的人都能准确指出，存在这样一个熟练的套路：总统有意或无意地抛出一个个言辞的手雷，目的是把注意力转移到别处。（这一招经常奏效：还记得上周他威胁要消灭伊朗文明吗？）

Now, Mr. Trump is showering Truth Social with Jesus memes and threats and endorsements.

现在，特朗普正在Truth Social上用耶稣表情包、威胁和各种表态支持刷屏。

“The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!!” he posted alongside an illustration of Jesus with his arm around the president’s shoulder and an American flag in the background.

“激进左派疯子们可能不喜欢这个，但我认为这相当不错！！！”他在一张图画旁配文道。图中耶稣用手臂搂着总统的肩膀，背景是一面美国国旗。

What makes this different from all the other times is that he cannot post his way out of a war he started without congressional permission or without the support of voters.

与以往不同的是，这一次他无法仅仅通过发帖就从一场未经国会授权、也缺乏选民支持的战争中脱身。

A fan of quick, in-and-out military operations that showcase the power of the U.S. military, Mr. Trump has grown frustrated that the war in Iran has taken longer than he had originally thought it would. His latest decision to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil route, has required more than 10,000 soldiers, as well as dozens of planes and warships. All the while, he has continued his usual practice of lashing out at critics. This time, he has damaged relationships with key allies, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, and made it harder for Republicans to keep the focus on economic issues in a midterm election year.

特朗普一向喜欢快速进出、能展示美国军事实力的军事行动，但他对伊朗战争持续时间超出自己最初预期的现状越来越感到沮丧。他最近决定封锁霍尔木兹海峡这一关键石油通道的决定已经动用了超过1万名士兵，数十架飞机和军舰。与此同时，他继续一如既往地猛烈抨击批评者。这一次，他损害了与关键盟友的关系，包括意大利总理乔治娅·梅洛尼，并让共和党人更难在中期选举年将注意力集中在经济议题上。

“President Trump has taken courageous action to address a threat that past presidents have talked about for 47 years, but only he had the courage to address,” Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement. “The United States military quickly achieved all of the goals enumerated at the beginning of Operation Epic Fury,” she added, referring to the name of the campaign in Iran.

“特朗普总统采取了勇敢的行动，来应对过去47年来历届总统只是嘴上说说，却只有他有勇气真正去解决的威胁，”白宫发言人安娜·凯利在一份声明中说。“美国军队迅速实现了‘史诗愤怒行动’一开始列出的所有目标，”她补充道，“史诗愤怒”是对这场伊朗战争的称呼。

Ms. Kelly said that the blockade was “increasing leverage as U.S. negotiators work to eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat for good.”

凯利表示，此次封锁行动“让美国谈判代表能有更多的筹码，以求彻底消除伊朗的核威胁”。

Inside the White House, some of Mr. Trump’s advisers have privately acknowledged that his attack on the pope was not productive. They believe a slate of events later this week will help shift attention toward some of the administration’s economic initiatives, and a tax season that has some Americans celebrating larger-than-average returns.

在白宫内部，特朗普的一些顾问私下承认，他对教宗的攻击并不明智。他们认为，本周晚些时候的一系列活动将有助于将注意力转移到政府的一些经济举措上，另外在这个报税季，一些美国人将欣喜地看到高于平均水平的退税。

周一，在麦当劳送餐到白宫后，特朗普走回椭圆形办公室。

“President Trump has always been able to enact America First foreign policy while enhancing the livelihoods of Americans at home, including by cutting taxes, re-shoring manufacturing, eliminating burdensome regulations, and more,” Ms. Kelly said.

“特朗普总统始终能够在推行‘美国优先’外交政策的同时，提升美国人在国内的生活水平，包括减税、制造业回流、取消繁琐监管等等，”凯利说。

Investors seem impatient for the war in Iran to end, too. The S&P 500 hit a fresh record high on Wednesday, reflecting optimism that a peace deal would be reached before the war inflicts significant damage on corporate America.

投资者似乎也焦急地盼望着伊朗战争尽快结束。标普500指数周三创下新高，反映出市场乐观认为，在战争对美国企业造成重大损害之前，和平协议就能达成。

Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump sat for an interview with Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business, who wanted to know whether his decision to blockade the strait had positively affected negotiations with Tehran.

当天早些时候，特朗普接受了福克斯商业频道玛丽亚·巴蒂罗莫的采访，后者想知道他封锁海峡的决定是否对与德黑兰的谈判产生了积极影响。

“The leaders they have now — it’s a new regime, OK?” Mr. Trump said, adding: “And I think we’re doing very well, but it only matters what the end result is, and maybe it’ll happen fairly soon. Who knows?”

“他们现在的领导人——这是一个新政权了，好吗？”特朗普说，“并且我认为我们做得很好，但最终结果才是最重要的，也许很快就会有结果。谁知道呢？”

A conga line of reporters also call and ask him about whatever they want to, creating additional mini news cycles. “Trump reacts to FEMA official’s claim he teleported to Waffle House,” was a headline that appeared on CNN’s website this week. It was bizarre and funny, the sort of attention-grabber that keeps Mr. Trump picking up to chat in the first place.

还有许多记者会打电话给他，问他任何他们想问的问题，从而制造出更多小型新闻周期。“特朗普得知FEMA官员声称‘瞬移’到华夫饼屋后的反应”这样的标题本周出现在CNN网站上。这既离奇又搞笑，正是这类能吸引眼球的东西让特朗普一开始就乐于接电话聊天。

And then there is what counts as business as usual at the White House, when Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, ended a briefing with reporters on Wednesday by showing off renderings of a 250-foot-tall arch that Mr. Trump wants built along the Potomac River to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States.

此外还有在白宫被视为司空见惯的事情：周三，白宫新闻秘书卡罗琳·莱维特在结束记者会时，展示了一座高约76米的拱门的效果图，这是特朗普希望在波托马克河畔建造的，以纪念美国建国250周年。

For anyone trying to keep up, this all has a kaleidoscopic, disorienting effect. But let’s peel our eyes from the Waffle House and the Jesus memes and the giant stone arch and pause for a question: Isn’t getting into a fight with the Vatican during the middle of a war — and during a midterm election year when the main topic of discussion is the high cost of living — a little extreme, even for Mr. Trump?

对于任何试图跟上节奏的人来说，这一切都有一种令人眼花缭乱、迷失方向的效果。但让我们把目光从华夫饼屋、耶稣表情包和巨大的石拱门上移开，停下来问一个问题：在战争期间——并且在以高昂生活成本为主要讨论话题的中期选举年——与梵蒂冈发生争执，即使对特朗普来说，难道不是有点太极端了吗？

As usual, and as it has always been, this depends on whom you ask.

像往常一样——从来都是这样——这取决于你问谁。

“He has always been like this,” said Whit Ayres, a longtime Republican pollster. “It all depends upon whether his recent behavior affects his job approval or changes anyone’s opinion about him that they didn’t already have before.”

“他一直都是这样，”资深共和党民意调查专家惠特·艾尔斯说。“这完全取决于他最近的行为是否会影响他的支持率，或者终于改变了某些人对他的看法。”

According to Mr. Ayres, the most critical variable in a midterm election is the job approval of the president. When a president has an approval above 50 percent, the average loss of House seats for his party is 14. When the president’s job approval is below 50 percent, the average loss for his party in the House is 32 seats.

根据艾尔斯的说法，中期选举中最关键的变量是总统的支持率。当一个总统的支持率高于50%时，其所在政党在众议院平均失去14个席位。当支持率低于50%时，其政党在众议院平均失去32个席位。

上周，特朗普准备离开白宫，前往迈阿密。

Mr. Trump’s job approval sits at about 39 percent. It hit a first-term low of 34 percent when Mr. Trump left office in January 2021. Mr. Trump had spent much of the previous year minimizing the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and lost the election. The month he left office, as many as 4,000 Americans were dying each day from the virus.

特朗普目前的工作支持率约为39%。当特朗普在2021年1月卸任时，支持率曾触及他第一任期的最低点34%。在那之前的大部分时间里，特朗普都在极力淡化新冠疫情的影响，并输掉了选举。在他卸任的那个月，每天有多达4000名美国人死于该病毒。

When the moment calls for Mr. Trump to publicly show empathy, he often leaves that work to others. When the moment calls for him to put the phone down or back away from a critic, he hits back harder.

当到了需要特朗普公开表达同理心的时刻，他通常会把这项工作留给别人。当到了需要他放下手机或对批评者退让一步的时刻，他会进行更猛烈的反击。

“He’ll double down, lie more and say that everything’s perfectly fine and great, and then do all his bonkers postings,” said Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary for Mr. Trump.

“他会加倍下注，撒更多的谎，声称一切都非常棒、非常好，然后发布他所有那些疯狂的帖子，”特朗普前白宫新闻秘书斯蒂芬妮·格里沙姆说。

But she added: “He’s being erratic, even for him.”

但她也说：“即使对他来说，他也显得太反复无常了。”

With a handful of months to go until the midterm elections, Republican leaders are left with a few choices. Some are choosing their public remarks carefully, gently persuading Mr. Trump — and the White House — to mind the economy.

距离中期选举仅剩几个月，留给共和党领导人的选择已经不多了。一些人正在谨慎选择他们的公开言论，温和地劝说特朗普——以及白宫——多关注经济。

“I’d stay focused on the administration, on the economic issues, the pocketbook issues that I think most Americans care about, and let the church be the church,” Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, told reporters on Wednesday. Mr. Thune was responding to a question about Vice President JD Vance warning the pope, the spiritual leader of 1.4 billion Catholics — a group that includes Mr. Vance — to be “careful” when talking about theology.

南达科他州共和党参议员、多数党领袖约翰·图恩周三告诉记者：“我会把重点放在政府工作上，放在我认为大多数美国人关心的经济问题和钱包问题上，让教会做教会该做的事。”图恩此番言论是在回应一个问题，即副总统JD·万斯警告教宗——14亿天主教徒（包括万斯本人）的精神领袖——在谈论神学时要“小心”。

In the House on Wednesday, six Republicans joined Democrats in moving to force a vote on a measure that would reinstate deportation protections for about 350,000 Haitians living in the United States. The Trump administration has tried to eliminate those temporary protections.

周三在众议院，六名共和党人与民主党人联手推动强制对一项措施进行投票，将恢复对居住在美国的大约35万名海地人的驱逐保护。特朗普政府一直试图取消这些临时保护措施。

G.O.P. leaders also delayed a debate on extending a high-profile warrantless surveillance law because of a rebellion over the bill in their ranks, despite Mr. Trump’s latest Truth Social order directing them to move forward.

共和党领导人还推迟了关于延长一项备受瞩目的无令状监视法的辩论，原因是他们内部对该法案出现了反叛，尽管特朗普最近在Truth Social上下达了指示，要求他们推进该法案。

“I am willing to risk the giving up of my Rights and Privileges as a Citizen for our Great Military and Country!” he declared on social media — striking, given his history of railing against the F.B.I.’s use of a different part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, during the investigation into Russia and his 2016 campaign.

“为了我们伟大的军队和国家，我愿意冒着放弃我作为公民的权利和特权的风险！”他在社交媒体上宣布——这句话令人惊讶，因为在调查俄罗斯及其2016年竞选活动期间，他曾多次猛烈抨击联邦调查局对《外国情报监视法》(FISA)的另一部分条款的利用。